LA City Council candidate Joe Bray-Ali loses endorsements over derogatory comments

LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - "I'm not going to pretend where I was speaking and some of the things I said were not outrageous and not out of line," Joe Bray-Ali, a Los Angeles City Council candidate, said outside his campaign headquarters on Thursday.

Bray-Ali is now apologizing for a series of offensive posts online. He admitted it was him under the name "ubrayj02" that commented on racist and fat-shaming forums.

On one video of a girl fight, he said, "These girls actually have a slick advantage of the weave ejecting during emergencies."

He also said about transgender surgery, "That doesn't seem like something worthy of praise, but instead of being criticized as a shameful excess."

"I went to a cesspool on the Internet and played around for a little while," Bray-Ali told FOX 11. "I think a lot of us are guilty of saying things we wish we could take back online."

Bray-Ali made those comments over a year ago, but it has come back to haunt his campaign -- losing big endorsements from the LA Times and Councilman Mitch O'Farrell.

Others in city government are also wary of his ability to lead.

"It's unbelievable, at a time when we are now talking about our budget in the city of Los Angeles this week, we need adults who are in city government. Not people who are spending their time insulting other people," Ron Galprin, Los Angeles City Controller, said.

Bray-Ali's comments prompted a public apology on his Facebook Page Wednesday night.

"This is clearly the biggest mistake I have made on the most public stage," he said.

The candidate is in the runoff against incumbent Gil Cedillo for District 1. Cedillo is now calling on his opponent suspend his campaign.

"You can't be a public servant and have that type of conduct and those types of attitudes," Cedillo said.

Bray-Ali has said he's not letting politicians determine the course of his campaign.

"I'm not running for a council seat to be the best person in world, I'm running to be the best councilman I can be," Bray-Ali said. "I'm going to leave it up to the voters to decide what is the right way forward for them."

Bray-Ali is planning a public meeting for Saturday so voters can ask him questions about his comments.

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